MAC and ESPN Regional Television Announce Syndication Package

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - For the fourth consecutive season, ESPN Regional Television, Inc., and the Mid-American Conference have announced a six-week regionally syndicated football package that will air in 24 television markets, including Chicago; Philadelphia; Detroit; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati; Indianapolis; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Buffalo. The package will consist of six weeks of MAC conference and non-conference matchups, beginning Saturday, Sept. 18.

"We are extremely excited about the upcoming football season and the MAC Game of the Week schedule," said Pete Derzis, senior vice president & general manager, ESPN Regional Television. "We have assembled an extensive group of MAC affiliates that reaches a significant base of college football fans. The demand for this content is a testament to the quality of MAC football." 

All games will begin at noon ET, with the telecast window extending to 3:30 p.m. The games will be distributed nationally via the ESPN GamePlan pay-per-view package, which is available to fans via cable, DIRECTV and Dish Network.  The telecasts will also be available on ESPN3.com, ESPN's broadband sports network.

"In 2010, the Mid-American Conference hopes to build upon the success of our syndicated Game of the Week package from the past few seasons" said Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher, Mid-American Conference commissioner. "This year's package presents a number of attractive match-ups.  Through the efforts of our partners at ESPN Regional Television, we have a strong group of affiliates throughout the MAC footprint that assist in our continuing efforts to foster and grow the MAC brand."

The six-week package will begin Sept. 18 with a non-conference match up as 2010 MAC front-runner Temple hosts the University of Connecticut from the BIG EAST Conference. The package will conclude Oct. 30, when Northern Illinois travels to Western Michigan. A full list of games can be found below.

The 24 markets that will air the package represent more than 22.7 million television households, or 20 percent of the U.S. Those markets and affiliates include: Chicago (WPWR - MNT); Philadelphia (WPVI - ABC); Detroit (WXYZ - ABC); Cleveland (WEWS - ABC); Indianapolis (WNDY - MNT); Columbus (WWHO - CW); Cincinnati (WKRC-DT2 - CW); Milwaukee (WMLW - Independent); Grand Rapids (WZZM - ABC); and Buffalo (WNYO - MNT).  A full listing can be found below.

Michael Reghi will call the action each week with analyst Doug Chapman. 

The 2010 football campaign marks the 64th season of MAC football and the 14th with a championship game. The season concludes Friday, Dec. 3, at Ford Field with the Marathon MAC Football Championship on ESPN2. With a record-tying five schools participating in bowl games last season, the MAC has produced bowl teams from 10 conference schools in the past five years. In addition, the competitiveness of the league has seen seven different schools represent their respective divisions in the last five championship games.

The number of MAC players in the NFL continues to grow as 91 former student-athletes were on active NFL rosters as of June 2009. Among those athletes are two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (Miami University) and 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison (Kent State University) of Pittsburgh.

The legacy of MAC greatness also has been recognized within its coaches, including former MAC greats Sid Gillman, Woody Hayes, Don James, Don Nehlen, Ara Parseghian, Doyt Perry, Bo Schembechler and Herb Deromedi in the College Football Hall of Fame.

2010 MAC 'Game of the Week' Schedule  (All Times Noon ET)

MAC Football Affiliates

City/DMA Size              Station                         Affiliation        

Chicago (3)                   WPWR                          MNT

Philadelphia (4)             WPVI / WPVI-DT2          ABC / Live Well

Detroit (11)                    WXYZ                           ABC

Tampa-St. Pete (14)       BrightHouse                  RSN

Cleveland (18)               WEWS                          ABC

Orlando  (19)                 BrightHouse                  RSN

Indianapolis (25)            WNDY                          MNT                            

Cincinnati (33)               WKRC-DT2                   CW

Columbus, OH (34)        WWHO                         CW

Milwaukee (35)              WMLW                          Independent

Harrisburg, PA (39)        EHP                             MNT

Grand Rapids, MI (41)    WZZM                          ABC

Buffalo (52)                   WNYO                          MNT

Charleston, WV (63)      WSAZ-DT2                    MNT

Dayton, OH (65)            WKEF                           ABC

Flint, MI (68)                  WSMH                          FOX

Toledo, OH (73)             WTVG                           ABC

Madison, WI (85)           ETVW                           MNT

South Bend, IN (91)       WMYS                          Independent

Youngstown, OH (110)   WYTV                           ABC

Lansing , MI (115)          WHTV                           MNT

LaCrosse, WI (127)        KQEG                           Independent

Rockford, IL (134)         WTVO-DT2                    ABC

Wheeling, WV (159)       WTOV-DT2                    RTN

ESPN Regional Television

The nation's largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 telecasts of sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events, accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to ownership of several sporting events, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network and the syndication rights holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. - BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, SEC, WAC).